Between the Line
by TheFriendlyNobody
Summary: Essences of every living being, the soul exist within all. Some floats in the sea of time, drifting until its dying days. Others, fluctuate, searching for their meaning, questioning their very existence. All would eventually be consumed by the sides of the world, The Light and Darkness. This is the story of the one of few who walks that line, the line that separates them.


**Salutation!~**

 **Welcome to another story from my good friend who is so big and round that you could roll him around like a ball, _TheHeartLess._ (dude if you're reading this, then suck a big one.) **

**Anyway, There isn't much to say here other than the obvious. This is a crossover story, which is a first for me (and him) so we would be using a lot of references from both series. So if you don't get anything that is said in this then you could search it on the InterWeb. Though for the most part, it's mostly an original storyline with references from both. So, be wary of holes. (-w-)b**

 **Enjoy the story.**

 **Disclaimer: We do not own anything in this story other than the original ideas that you may encounter as you read. You'll see which is ours as you, the reader progress through it. Thank you.**

 **WARNING: THIS IS THE BY-PRODUCT OF TWO BROS HOLDING SHARP, SHARDS OF COALS AND SCRATCHING IT ON THE WALL OF EVERY AVAILABLE SURFACE. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THEY WILL BE MISTAKES AND ERRORS IN THIS THING. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

* * *

The soft sounds of tapping and clicking echoes within a barely lit room. Everything is almost shrouded in darkness, with the only light source coming from a brightly lit screen from a nearby table. A large, shadowy figure stood in front of the screen, causing most of the room behind it to be covered by its large cascading shadow. Said figure is busy typing on a keyboard while moving a custom joystick that is both connected to the screen diligently and expertly. A futuristic visor-like headset covers most of the silhouette's head, leaving only the bottom half visible with dual cable connected to a CPU underneath the table.

The large chair the figure is sitting on lets out a soft creak as they lean back against it, a tired sigh leaving their lips. Reaching up, they unclip the straps holding the visor before taking it off, shaking their head after. Looking at the now slightly dim screen, the figure sees a young teenage boy looking back at them, his ruby red eyes glinting slightly against the pale light of the screen. Light brownish hair stuck out messily on his head with pale brown skin matching almost with it. The teenager lets out a grunt of annoyance before placing the visor-head on a stand beside the screen.

"That quest took way longer than it should been." The teen mutters softly, his slightly gruff voice making him sound older then he should have been he rubs his eyes tiredly. Looking to side, he checks the clock on the wall, which shows that it is 5 minutes before 2 am, before giving out a small grin. "It's a good thing then that it is still the holiday." The teen stretches out his limbs with a satisfied groan before switching of his computer completely before standing up.

He walks toward his bed while absently taking off his shirt, leaving him only in his sweatpants, before plopping down at the corner of it. He reaches out to a water bottle on the nightstand beside the bed and drinks it before laying down after placing the bottle back to its place. Yawning widely, he pulls up the bed covers over himself before turning to lay his side. His gaze settles on the now shut off monitor as he slowly closes his eyes, reminiscing his adventure of the day as he slowly falls to the realm of unconsciousness.

* * *

 _'For it is the choices that will define us all.'_

The feeling of discomfort slowly pulls the young teen out from his comforting sleep. He toss and turn, grumbling incoherently in his still sleepiness state of mind. A small frown crosses his face when the discomfort did not disappear but grew along with a sudden sense of pain. Growling at the disturbance, the teen finally sits up from his laying position while rubbing his eyes grumpily. "I swear whatever it is, I'm gonna punch it right... in the..." he starts out hardly before trailing off to a stop as his eyes finally opens and takes in the surrounding.

He is sure that he is not in his room anymore. He could not see the ceiling, the walls or his furniture. Hell, he couldn't even see his night lamp which is technically just right beside him. All he did see is pitch black, not the normal ones that he is used too but a complete, utter blackness. He could barely see anything right in front of him except for his limbs and even those he barely make out. He can feel something hard beneath him, like a cold tilled floor that you would see in a bathroom or the hospital.

With a small grunt, he slowly maneuvers himself to stand, being extra careful incase that the only floor there is are the ones he is currently standing on. After getting a proper footing, he cautiously turns to look around himself for any other sign of a floor beneath him only to come up with none. Seeing as he has no other options, he takes a deep breath before moving his feet forward, hoping beyond hope that there is something there. But as he did that, something strange and extraordinary happens.

As his feet touch the floor, or whatever it is underneath him, it suddenly burst upward in flurry bright, bluish white light. Feeling surprise and a little panic, he quickly cross his arms over his face to protect it from the inevitable pain to come. But it never did. His eyes slowly opens to see what's happening only to feel further surprise at what he sees. The pain never came because the bright, bluish light was nothing but a flurry of translucent butterflies flying upwards, the bluish-like glow surrounding its body illuminating the immediate area around him

He watches as the butterflies fly around, feeling a bit weirded out but is still mystified by the strange occurrence. As he sees them slowly disappearing into the distance, he finally takes notice the significantly brighter surrounding. Looking down, he sees that source of the light is coming from a large, circle-shaped platform beneath him with a beautifully designed mural the like would only in ancient or historical cathedrals and churches. As he is looking, something familiar about it nudges at the edge of his mind. It is when he turns to the side that it finally click inside of him. ' _That's me...'_

The mural on the floor is actually depicting him in his standard everyday clothes, his signature dark grey jacket over a black and white stripped theme t-shirt along with steel grey pants and red-black themed shoes. The one in the mural looks to be asleep with how his eyes are close and how peaceful his expression really is. Grasp tightly in his hand is the visor-like headset he wore just a moment with the cables wounding up his hand. Behind him is the city of Tokyo in proud and glory, shining bright against the night sky. He looks at it in awe before idle looking down at himself, noticing that he now wears the same clothing as the one in the mural. As he did that, he finally notice the large, bold line curving through the middle of platform, cutting the mural in two and making him think that there is more.

Turning around, he is surprise to see someone very familiar to him. Someone that he meet almost on a day-to-day bases at this point. His avatar from famous game **'The World'**. The avatar he named _**'Haseo'**_. The mural depicts perfectly from its, his, white sprawl out hair to his futuristic-like white suit that glows ever so slightly with translucent effects. The signature crown ring floats behind the avatar idly, seemingly covering it in a cocoon. Loosely grasp in his hand is his custom weapon, the DG-X, a dual-wielding gun specially made for him after an unforgettable event. All of this contrasted greatly against the architectural and archaic beauty of one popular place within **'The World'** , the Root Town of Mac Anu.

Inspecting the mural fully now, the teen quickly takes notice the familiarity of the mural design with the Chinese symbol for the balance between the light and darkness, the Ying and Yang. As he was inspecting the floor, a low rumble echoes out causing him to immediately crouch out of reflex. He stays crouching as he watches as three black pedestal suddenly rose from the floor, causing the floor to rumble as it did. There, seemingly floats above the pillars, are three items with one of them looking out of place between the other two.

To his right floats the standard double-edge sword, its silver steel and golden guard reflecting the light that is shining down from somewhere above. Next, to his left floats the standard brass shield with a strange symbol engrave to its front, big circle with two smaller ones on top and to the side making it look like ears. The shield has the same coloring theme as the sword with edges and base being a slight darker tone and the symbol strange symbol being black. The last item, the one seemingly out of place, is small staff-like baton the size of his arm with a small deep blue pointed hat, like the wizard wears, on top of it. It looks to be attach firmly to the baton.

The teen takes a tentative step forward, curious about items displayed but still feeling cautious, when he suddenly hears a voice that freezes him in his step _**'You have the potential, a power so great that lays dormant within.'**_ Startled, he whips his head around, searching for where the voice has originated from. "Who's there?! Show yourself!" The voice continues, completely ignoring the teen's demand. _**'If it is accepted, it will bring you strength.**_ ' "Don't ignore me! What the hell are you talking about?!" the teen shouts back, feeling angry at being ignore causing his patience wear thin. _**'Now choose wisely, which of which do you desire the most? Which of which would you sacrifice?...which of which…'**_ the voice, an echoes of different voices speaking at the same time, started saying before slowly trailing off into a distant whisper

Hs grits his teeth and clench his fists tightly as he glares into the darkness, annoyed by the voice speaks in riddles. _'What the hell is this nonsense?'_ he angrily thought before turning back to the three items that floats aimlessly above their respective pedestals. _'What happen? How did I get here? I remember falling asleep and then... The feeling of sinking... And then... Tsk, Damn it all!'_ he clench his hands even tighter in a burst of anger. Looking back, he walks towards the pedestals while expecting each items, processing what the voices had said and what they mean. _'_ _ **Choose wisely?**_ _... So I have to choose between this three then. But for what? What exactly is my purpose here?'_

Looking between all three, he decide to inspect each one thoroughly first before making a decision. He walks towards the least known of the three, the weird staff-like baton. As his hand touches the base, the voice speaks out again, startling him a bit. _'T_ _ **he power of the mystic. The uses one's mind to do extraordinary feats, feats beyond logic itself. Are you willing to sacrifice others aspects for this power**_ _?'_ The teens hears the voice explains as he grabs hold of the weird baton, feeling the sudden rush of energy flowing through him.

' _Magic huh?... Heh like that's even true... still... '_ He contemplates while swinging the staff slightly, feeling the strange energy coursing him, swirling inside his body. Placing the staff back while feeling the weird energy leaving him, he turns next inspect the sword. _'_ _ **The strength of conqueror, the will to a warrior. To those who choose to go headlong into battle without hesitation, without fear. But at a heavy cost, injuries upon others around you and thyself. Do you accept this responsibility?**_ _'_ The teen hears the voice explain again as he grabs the sword by the handle, feeling the might of a thousand coursing through his veins.

He stares at the sword intently, mulling over the thought while swinging it around him. _'Unimaginable strength... If I were my old self, I won't even hesitate to pick this over the others but now...'_ Smiling slightly, he place the sword back on the pedestal while letting out a soft sigh. _'I already out grew that phase, even if it was just recently.'_ He then turns towards the last item amongst the three, the shield. He walks up to it as the voice echoes again around. _'_ _ **By their beliefs, by their trusts, by their wills, you are be granted the might of the paladins. Be the guardian that defends the masses, the looming giant that protects the city, the silent, unmoving force to those that face dares oppose. But in return, you must abandon all your teachings, all your fortitude. Do you accept this consequences?**_ _'_

The teen lets out a contemplative hum as he holds the shield in his hands. Turning it around, he then straps the shield on his arm, feeling the weight of it along with burdens and duty that comes with it. _'I've always felt the need to protect those closest to me, even more so since the debacle with AIDA... But is that all I could do for them?...'_ He stares down into the shield, looking right at the reflection that is staring right back at him. ' _...No'_ he firmly says to himself. _'I can't battle their own fights, they have to learn it on their own. The only thing I could do then is support them along the way.'_ Grinning, he takes off the shield and place it back on the pedestal.

Taking a few steps back, he looks over the items again, feeling the emotion conflicting inside upon the paths given to him. _'I can choose only one... And only by abandoning the others, no ifs or buts... Even so, neither aspects are stronger than the others...but I don't have any other choice... Or do I?'_ Looking down at his open hands, he envision all the different scenarios, all the different paths that will happen when he choose, how it will define him in the end, before it finally hit him. '... _neither.'_ Clenching his hands tightly, he looks up into the dark void and speaks out his answer loud and clear. "I will choose none!"

Silence fills the area after his exclamation, causing worry and fear to blossom within but for only a moment. Then the voice speaks. _**'Are you certain of your choice?'**_ The teen replies with a firm nod, unwavering eyes staring right back into the oblivion. A few minutes pass after that, no words were exchange again with the voice which causes his already knitted fear to grow inside more. He was almost about to snap from the growing dear when the voice finally answers. _**'Very well...'**_ With a deep rumble, the pedestals slowly slide back down to the floor with the items blinking out into sparkling glass shards.

The teen stands silently on the platform, waiting for the voice to speak again or for something to happen. Seconds pass as he stands there, his normally patience wearing with each passing. Just when he was about to snap and explode, the floor beneath let out a vicious crack. Startled, he barely catches the webbing of cracks beneath him before the floor suddenly shatters. He plummets into the deep abyss below, all the while screaming bloody murder as he pass the falling shards.

* * *

' _Wake up little light… there's still much to done…'_ A voice softly whispers in his ear, rousing him from unconsciousness. A groans escape his mouth as he slowly sit up from the laying on the floor, a hand holding his aching head. Shaking it in effort to clear the grogginess, the teen slowly maneuvers himself to stand, checking his surrounding as he did. He seems to be have land on another platform with the same mural on it except with a couple of changes. For one, the background behind his avatar has now change to the futuristic views of the Root Town Breg Epona. His avatar itself has change with his equipment being reset to his default form, the one he used when he first started.

The shadows at the edges of the platform slithered and writher as the teen finally notice the strange door sitting in front of him. As he walks closer to it, the teen takes notes of the intricate design of the frame, the top having a crown-like symbol on it that is engraved into a grey-gold metal. _'A way out maybe?...'_ Finding the handle for said door, he then tries to open it but to no avail. Frowning, he tries again with a little more force, placing a foot against the door itself and pushing while twisting the handle. Did not budge, at all.

Annoyed, confused and a little bit frustrated, he decided to try on a different tactic. Gripping both handle of the door firmly, he then begins to pull it with all his might. His teeth grinds against each other as he musters all the strength into the pulling it open, demanding it to open. Eventually it did, marginally at first. The door creaks loudly as it slowly opens outward, causing him to grin in triumph only to be blinded by the bright light that sips through the small opening. Letting go, he quickly cover his eyes as the light shines continues to shine brighter, the door continuing to open as it did.

' _ **Be wary... for every light... there will always be darkness...'**_ The voice, the ones he heard before on the other platform, whispers to him. He was about to question it when his danger sense, hone by the martial exercises he has recently did along with his experience inside **'The World'** , suddenly blares in his head causing him to quickly sidesteps from the door. He feels and hear the air beside him moves as something jump at where he used to be. Turning quickly, he sees a black blur shoots pass him before crashing into the ground, flattening against it like thrown dough.

The puddle-blob writhe and twitches violently on the floor, its pitch black colour making it clearer for him to see. A pair of weirdly misshapen antennas sprouts from the top of the puddle before a sphere like head emerges from it, following closely by a pair of small arms and stubby legs. Its entire being twitches violently before turning towards him, its eerie glowing beady eyes staring at him silently. He eyes the thing with wary eyes, cautious of it attacking again before his danger sense blares again. He quickly dodges another attack that comes from behind him but it still grazes his shoulder, the wound beginning to bleed.

Painful hiss escape through his gritted teeth as he rolls out into a crouch beside the door, hand shooting up to stop the slightly bleeding wound. He watches as another of the thing emerges from the same black puddle on the ground beside the previous one. Puddles upon puddles of inky darkness starts to surround him, breaking off from the edges of the platform where he can see faint tendrils of the same kind writhing and waiting. The teen lets out a pained grunt as he slowly stands up, suppressing the pain as much as possible. With a deep sigh, he falls into his boxing stance again while settling a glare towards the creatures. "…Lets dance, pricks."

The creatures seems to understand him as the one closes suddenly leaps at him with a slashing attack aim for his head. The attack fail to connect as he did a quick jump to the side before twisting around and grabbing the leg of another creature as it passes in its failed lunge attack before using it to club another one that follows behind, launching them both towards its friends. A quick jab intercepts another creature's attack before delivering a one-two combo to another two. Five of the creatures leaps at him simultaneously, in an effort to overwhelm him but is foil by a wild haymaker which flings them all back. Sharp pains plagues his senses as he had accidently use his injured arm to do the swing.

Time seems to blur away from him as he counters every attack that comes at him, keeping constant vigilance of his surrounding and the creatures that is now rushing in from all side. Thanks to the training that his friend 'insisted' him to undertake which he is forever grateful for but still vehemently hate, he manages to remain confident in his ability to fend the creatures off for so long. But even humans falters in their step after prolong usage of their energy. His movement starts to slow and his attack starts to falter before the creatures finally hit him. A surprise shout left him as the attack leaves a gashing wound on his leg.

He falls to one knee as his hand move immediately move to close the wound that has also started to bleed. The creatures quickly capitalize on this as they all jumps towards him in a massive pile dive. Again suppressing the pain, he sloppily rolls out from the attempt pile up before quickly standing up, stumbling a bit as he did. His breath comes out short and haggard as fatigue finally catches to him for his prolong fighting but even then he still manage to bring up his defense, even if barely. As he tries to focus back on the fight, he fails to notice another attack that is quickly nearing him until it finally hit him.

Another pained shout escape him as the sharp claws slashes at his face, leaving three long bleeding wound as it pass. He stumbles back in pained shock as he grabs hold of his face with his now blood-soak hand. A familiar feeling starts to boils inside him, coursing through his veins as his grip on his face tighten slightly. A deep growl vibrates from inside him as his ruby red eyes glares at the writhing creatures around him with his hands now tightly at his side. Danger sense tingling, he nimbly dodges the attack coming from behind him before spinning around with his arm out in a vicious backhand swing.

He briefly thought he missed as he did not felt the swing hit it before his sight finally caught up with swing. While the attack did not exactly hit, something else surely did as he watches the now bisected creature crash into the floor before bursting into a cloud of black smoke. Feeling surprise, he finally notice the weight in his now tightly clench hand that he previously used to attack. His surprise heightens further when he turns to see a strangely shaped weapon grasp in his hand. The weapon itself resemble a medieval longsword with the blade being as long as his arm and the width being larger than normal along with the slightly longer handle. What made it strange is that the blade itself seems to be made out of solidified water as it shimmers from the light with bubbles floating aimlessly inside, the tip ending into a hook. The hilt is shaped to mimic the head of a shark with its mouth open, its signature white and blue colour mixing well with the blade along with its golden eyes. Dark brown leather material is wrap around the handle down toward the pommel where a large red clothe is tied around it, the cloth stopping just above his knee.

Something suddenly comes to the forefront of his mind as he stares at the blade with wide eyes. A word, a name. " _ **Brotherhood**_ **…** " he softly recite. This seem to resonate with the blade as light reflects against the eyes of the shark and the blade shimmering even brighter. Focusing back towards the still ongoing fight, he notice that the creature did not attack him when his attention where somewhere else. In fact, they seems to be waiting for something as they passively stands in their place, writhing and twitching. _'Maybe they are afraid...'_ he summarize with a quick glance at _**Brotherhood**_ before pushing the thought away. Holding the weapon in both hand, he settles into the standard sword-wielding stance before grinning. "It's about time we wrap this up, am I right ladies?" he cheekily says.

This stirs the creatures from their trance as one of them tries another lunge only to be stop midway by slash that split it in the middle. Grinning a bit more, he kills another two of them with a quick upward slash before transitioning into a frontal sweep, killing a few more while the others manage to dodges. Fires burns through his veins as adrenaline takes over his body, pushing himself against his limits as he steadily fights the creatures off, their numbers dwindling with every successful kills. The feeling of nostalgia briefly replace his adrenaline, reminding him of his life, both in the past of present. His grin now resemble the one he used to wear in his pass life.

It was not long before the once crowded platform full of black puddles is now clear, leaving only a few that is now being dealt quickly. The teen, for the most part, has never felt this exhilarated in his life. The only time he remember feeling like this is when he used to kill players in **'The World'** in his pass life. He never thought he will be feeling it outside of that, in the real world no less. He likes this feeling, he likes it _a lot._ Pausing to catch his breath, he watches the last of the creature standing a few feet in front of him before an idea came to him. Switching his grip to one hand, he made the 'Come at Me' gesture towards it with a confident grin.

Whether the creature understand him or not did not matter to him as he watches it half-wobbles, half-runs towards him. He waits as it comes closer and closer, _**Brotherhood**_ held tightly to the side with two hand and left leg forward and bent slightly. Predictably, it jumps at him in another lunge which he plan it to do. Another split second pause, he finally moves, sliding his body forward and to the left with the weapon pull back. As the creature pass near the spot he previous was, he then swing his weapon as quick and as strong his could, the blade stopping only for a moment before passing through the creature like butter.

With a sharp exhale, he finish the swing with right leg now forward and the weapon in front of him as the creature flew behind him, its two separate body spinning a bit before disappearing in a burst of smoke. Grinning triumphantly from the successful maneuver, he finally remembers something important as his injured arm and leg flares from unintended pain. He lets out a pained groan as he move to hold his injured arm, _**Brotherhood**_ loosely grip in his other hand. Strangely enough, the wound seems to be smaller than before with blood finally stopping some time ago. Checking his leg to see the same result, he then switch his attention the weapon again.

' _A bit weird but it's still cool looking. It also doesn't weight much and the hook would make some cool techniques and uses if I plan it right. The cloth is a bit bothering but I could still work with it, probably.'_ He thoroughly inspects the blade while listing down its aspect since there is no fighting at the moment. He moves the weapon closer toward him before poking the bladed part, watching in fascination as the ripples originates from the spot his poked. _'Huh, real water. Wonder how that is physically possible. Wait, nevermind.'_ He discarded that thought when he remembers the magical staff that can cast magic from before. _'Guess magic do exist here, wherever here is.'_ He stares at the weapon thoughtfully, thinking on how to bring it with without holding it all the time.

As if the weapon could hear his thought, it suddenly burst into a shower bright light, blinding him while also startling him. He stares at his now empty hand with a bewildered look on his face. _'Well, that's easier than I thought.'_ Wanting to test the theory, he holds out his hand and willed the weapon to come back to him. His hand lights up in the familiar shower of light before the feeling of a handle settles in his hand which he instantly grasp tightly. Mouth set into a straight line, he stares down at weapon before willing it away. He then briefly hears a sharp, loud cracking noise before the floor beneath him disappears, plummeting him into the deep abyss while screaming.

" _ **NOT AGAIIINN!"**_

* * *

A dull, aching pain coming from his back slowly pulls him from the realm of unconsciousness. An indistinct groans escape his lips as he rolls to his side before groggily sitting up. _"Something is seriously getting hit today..."_ he grumbles out softly, feeling annoyed from experiencing the same, life-threatening incident. Again. He shakes his head slightly to rid himself of the now fading grogginess away while slowly standing up. Sharp pain to his noggin causes him to stop mid-way, hissing slightly from the sensation with a hand against his head. As he rubs his temple gently, a soft gently light manage to catch his attention.

He sees a large, luminescent tree glowing beautifully within a similarly large, dark cavern. The caverns walls and protruding stalagmites glistens starkly with the murky nature of the cavern itself, giving of the illusion of the shining stars in the night sky. Long lengths of vines dangles from the branches of the tree, the light within them fading as it reaches the tip, just like a falling star slowly losing its light. Its trunk is as large as the tree itself is tall, it almost covering most of the platform in its size. Its multiple roots spreads almost the entirety of the bottom floor with a jagged, reflective glass covering them, creating the illusion of a shimmering water.

A name suddenly comes to forefront of his mind from the depth, a name he is closely familiar with, a name that reminds him of his pass and what had transpired, a name that he would not soon forget. . _**'Dead World of Indieglut Lugh'**_ Even when not spoken, it stills ignites the feeling of melancholy inside him. A small, sad smiles crosses his face as he crouches down and traces his fingers against the mural, remembering the memories again before the smile turns into a frown. Crouching down closer, he traces the faint crack on the mural before noticing more of them around it. He follows the crack all the way top part of the tree where a visible wide crack can be seen.

The frown deepens as he inspects the crack closer, crouching down and gently tracing the edges. He draw back his hand as a sharp, stinging sensation suddenly flares at the edges of his fingers. Grimacing, he stares at the small cut on each fingers that is now bleeding slightly before a loud cracking nose draws him back down to the floor. Webs upon webs of small cracks starts to cover the floor as the cracking noise grows louder and louder following tremor that grows with it. The teens stumbles slightly in his footing before crouching low to the ground, eyes fixates on the top of something that is slowly emerging from the opening on the floor.

The tremors continue for a straight minute before slowly residing, leaving the unknown thing to be visible. He slowly stands up, being careful of his footing on the now broken mural, before walking towards the thing. Eyes sweeps over the intricate design on the dark, wooden borders before eyeing the large plate of steel on top with a strange symbol on it, a shield with one large circle with two smalls one on top of it. He traces his fingers against the wood before moving it over body size mirror within it. Not a speck of dust of scratches can be seen on the surface of the mirror with it being really thick, he noted when he slightly taps it with his knuckles. Finishing, he finally sets his eyes against the large mirror only to be surprise on what he sees.

In the reflection stands his very own avatar from **'The World'** game except it looks different from the one he knows. The truly obvious difference he could see is that he no longer in his Xth Form, now he is in his 3rd Form of his Class. The armor of the form seems to be jaggier than before and to seem covering more of his body than usual. The purple section of his armor, the one on his stomach, is completely gone with the symbol itself ingrain on his stomach. From what skin could see, the tattoos covering his body is now vastly different. He notice that his hair has reverted to the style associate with this Form but still kept the same colour. But what catches his attention most is his eyes.

Solid, white eyes glares back through the mirror, the eyes itself narrowing in apparent anger with veins bulging from the corners of them. His mouth is pull into a vicious snarl, saliva's dripping slightly from the inhumanly sharp of which his teeth has become. Movement behind it draws the teen focus on the erratically moving tail that he knows is connected behind said avatar. A small seed of fear and trepidation starts to grow within him as he continue to look it over. The feeling could be ignore at first but slowly, it starts to affect his mind. Sweat drips from the side of his face as he look over his avatar before settling back on its blank, white eyes.

' _ **Warrior of Light, heed my call. Bound by duty, thy shall face. Forces of Darkness, thine shall befall. Essence of Light resides within, to be used as such the battles begins. Will thine succeed and rid them from existence, or succumb to their whispering temptation until death comes? No shall know, forevermore.'**_

He looks up, feeling a bit relief for the distraction, and listens as the voice, it having a more feminine tone to it with a whispering effect, speaks before stopping. Momentarily confuse by the strange wording of said voice, he never notice his reflection starting to move before he hears a small, soft crack. He barely turn his head when the mirror suddenly explode outward, showering him in shards of glass. Scratches and cuts covers his body as he block as much of the shards as possible. His cautious and worried fill mind tries to gather back his focus when an agonizing pain erupts on his chest. Specks of spit and blood flies out of his mouth as he is sent flying from the force of the hit.

He crash land near the edge of the platform, skidding to a stop just shy of edge. He could barely orientate himself when his danger sense tingles, causing him to quickly roll away. It is fortunate that he did as the spot he previously in cracks and breaks as something hit it with a loud, thunderous bang. Feeling his danger sense still tingling, he continues rolling away, dodging each and every attack aim at his person just by hairbreadth. A small opportunity present itself when there was a slight pause in the barrage, giving him time to quickly kip back up before instantly settling back into his ingrained battle stance.

The sound of wind being cut is the only warning for him before another lightning flash attack came at him, coming in a sweeping arc. He barely dodges the attack, it cutting some of his hair, before he had to sidestep a thrust-attack aim for his chest. A flare of lights briefly temporary blinds him before he parries another attempted thrust with a swing of now acquired _**Brotherhood**_. He swiftly follows up by getting closer to his attacker and giving them his own thrust attack, missing them by a margent. He parries a few more of the attack and giving some of his own before withdrawing, jumping a few steps back to gain distance.

Surprise temporarily pulls him from his focus when he sees that fighter that is fighting him was in fact his avatar. He then notices something different for the now real person. His armor has now fully covered his body, leaving only his head in view, with web of pulsating burning red veins running over them. The strange tattoo that was engrave on his stomach is now glowing ominously, its burnt orange colour suggesting a fire is within it with cracks branching out from it. What skins he can possibly see from it, which is technically his stomach and head, is now charcoal black with the same veins like web covering them.

But all of that fails compare to what he is currently seeing. Six, six long tails twitches and moves erratically from behind him, the tip glowing in super-heated orange with the small, jagged spikes running up each of them. Its blank, white eyes narrows slightly with untamed fury, his lips being pull back into a vicious, primal snarl with a bit of saliva dripping slightly. His observation was cut short when one of the 6 tails suddenly moves to attack him which he swiftly blocks before battering it away with a swing of his weapon. Another attack came immediately after which he also blocks but the force behind it sent him skidding back.

The sound of cutting winds the only warning he got before he is force to parry and block the barrage of stabbing from all 6 of the tails. Some manage to injure him but they are at worst non-lethal and at best only minor cuts. _'It's persistent, I'll give it that.'_ He briefly thought as he continue to parry the dancing blades that is thrust towards him with the intent to kill. Eyes quickly flickers over his opponent body and movement, scanning for any opening that he could exploit. The opening he is searching for presents itself when his doppelganger pulls back all of its tail for a simultaneous attack. But he has other plans, plans that does not involve him being shishkabob.

Just as it let loose the attack, the teen quickly dashes forward and closes the gap between them, dodging the tails just barely. He made sure to aim _**Brotherhood**_ tip-first before giving his opponent his own thrust attack that is aim at its chest. As expected, the thing nimbly dodges to side which he plan it to do in the first place. Switching his grip, he changes swiftly changes the thrust into a wide slash, the forward momentum giving him enough speed to follow his target. The attack nick its chest before he did another slash which it deflects with its hand. He launches a flurry of attacks but is all nimbly deflected before he pulls back, swinging his weapon at it to create some distance.

Quickly going into defense, he swiftly blocks, parries and dodges the flaying swings of its tails that is now couple with the swipes of his clawed hands. It feels like hours has pass by for him as he continue to battle with this doppelganger, both switching roles as often as they move with neither relenting in vigor. Sparks flies as both combatant clashes in the middle of the platform, _**Brotherhood**_ grinding against sharp, glowing tip claws. With a push, they both jumps back leaving some distance between them. The teen lands in crouch with one hand use to slow his momentum while his opponent lands on all fours with its tails pull back.

Sweats drips down his face as he deeply breathe in some air, his adrenaline fading with his fatigue finally catching up to him. He swallows his spit as he make sure to point _**Brotherhood**_ in front before breaking his stance slightly. _'This is going nowhere... I have to end quickly somehow... without being ended myself.'_ Breathing in a few more deep breath, he straighten back into his stance with his lips set in a straight line. Eyes narrow in concentration, he changes his stance so that one foot is in front with the other back with his knee bent slightly and his blade is held parallel to his face. _'...Looks like we're going old school for this.'_ He thought while tightening his grip.

His action seems to incite the doppelganger as its bestial growl grows louder while its tails move more erratically. Times seemingly slows down as two combatant stay frozen at their side of the platform, ruby red eyes now staring determinedly into the narrowed, solid white eyes. A few seconds ticks by with none moving an inch, broken only by the growl of one. Suddenly, the doppelganger move. Tensing its legs, it launches itself forward toward him, clawed hands pose to pierce him with its tails wrap around its arms and the tip pointing straight at him to add more deadliness to the attack. But the teen did not waver.

Closer and closer the beast shortens the distance between them, eyes glimmering with untamed fury and bestial rage. But he is still not moving. His pose, his expression, his eyes, did not waver as the bringer of his death slowly comes near him. Just as when the beast is practically in front him, just as when his opportunity to dodge ended, he finally moves. With a timely shift of his feet, he dodges to the side, attack barely miss his head as he had duck it. As he moved, he also moves his blade behind him which he now swing with all his might. He stop his swing the blade now in front of while the beast lands into a crouch behind him.

A small pause occurs as both combatant again freezes in their pose looking like statues. Then, the beast suddenly moves. It slowly tips forward in its crouch position as part of its body slowly slid off from each other, showing the diagonal slash on its body. A victorious smirk crosses his face as he hears the soft thud of his opponent's body hit the floor before the smirk is wipe off as an agonizing pain suddenly erupted from his side. He grasp his right side as he falls to his knees, _**Brotherhood**_ falling from his grasp before disappearing in brief flash of light. Eyes clenches as he wills himself to bare the pain as his throat burns from not being able to scream.

He painfully opens his eyes to look down at his side, seeing as a darkish red liquid passes through the gaps of his fingers and staining his clothes. It's his blood he idle noted as his vision slowly start to darken from the blood loss. It then slowly turns sideways as he tilts to side and falls on the floor on his injured side. Numbness now replace the pain he feels as his sight slowly darkens with every blink of his eyes, his hand now loosen from holding his wound. He can even feel the blood from it traveling down his skin and starts pooling on the floor, staining the broken mural beneath him. _'And I just gotten this washed too.'_ A soft, pained chuckle left him at the thought.

As his sight darkens to the point that he can only see the blurred lights coming from the floor, the sound of something clicking against glass sounding much clearer to him in his fading hearing. _'...High heels?...'_ he idly thought in his detach mind just as something blurry blocks his already faded sight. He then can faintly feel something touching the area around his wound before touching the wound itself, causing a sharp pain to go through his body before being replace by the cold sensation of ice running through his veins. The sudden coldness manages to bring some awareness into him as his sight clear enough for him to see a tail end of some clothes as well as polish black high heel boots in front of him.

Before he could utter a word, a voice suddenly echoes in his ear, sounding far sharper than it should have been. _**"Shame... To have fallen so early in your journey... Tis a shame really..."**_ The voice, female in its tone and soothing plus daunting in its feeling, says softly but clearly like it is near his ear. He feels the touching, their fingers he notes, moving from his wound to slightly trace his face, their fingers gliding over his cheek. _**"But you cannot perish... not just yet... there are much,**_ **much,** _ **more to be done..."**_ A silky soft chuckles tickles his ear as the same cold icy feeling starts to cover his entire face starting from where the stranger lightly touches his face.

His breath comes out in a faint, but visible white mist as the coldness now causes his body to shiver slightly. It did helps keeping him awake but it does prevent him from doing anything else. He wanted to ask her, he wanted question her, he wanted to shout out but the only thing that he could do in his freezing state is a soft, faint groan. He did not know whether the person heard him or chooses not to acknowledge it as she move from tracing his cheek to cupping it in her hand, the coldness of her hand managing to stop his sight from darkening completely. A puff of cold air tingles his ear as the person speaks, voice now much clearer.

" _ **Until we meet again... my**_ **precious** _ **champion..."**_

* * *

A horrifying shout tears through his throat as the teen shoots up from laying in his bed, sweats dripping down his face. He frantically looks around as his hands is held up in his fighting stance, waiting for something to happen. A few seconds pass of frantic looking, he finally calms down with loud and relief-full sigh. Plopping back down to bed, he places a hand on his face to cool down his already nerves only to jump in shock as something chimes beside him. Placing a hand on his chest to calm his again fried nerves, he turns and grabs his phone, which is the source of the noise, from the nightstand while unplugging the charger cable from it.

Holding it above himself, he blinks his eyes to rid of rest of his sleepiness before staring at the message on the screen of his phone. _**'Good Morning! Hope you had a wonderful sleep~. I'm just sending this message to remind you of our outing for today. It's at 9 o'clock okay? Don't be late you hear? – Chigusa'**_ He stares at the message with momentary confusion before finally remembering that plan. _'Looks like I know what I'm going to do today.'_ He thought with smile on his while he turn to look at the clock on his nightstand. The smile disappears as the sense of panic suddenly sprouts within him. _'Shit!'_

He quickly jumps out of his bed, the blankets covering going flying before landing on the ground. Before it even hit the ground, the teen has already shoots towards his bathroom like a bullet. 5 minutes later, he shoots back out from the bathroom, towel wrap around his hip with his hair still dripping with water. Dashing to his closet, he quickly opens it before rummaging through all his clothing, flinging out some of them in his search. A small triumphant noise left him as he pulls out a pair of appropriate clothes that does not make him look to weird. He then quickly put them on, flinging his towel haphazardly in his room before grabbing his phone and dashing to his front door.

He pauses for a bit to grab his keys and his helmet, a slick black full-face helmet with tinted screen, before reaching his front door. Quickly strapping in his shoes, he step out of his apartment and lock the door before walking straight to the nearest elevator. A ride down the elevator fill with old, 90's music, he finally steps out from it to the garage, his phone now in hand. His fingers blurs over the keypad as he writes his message as he instinctively walk toward his personal vehicle. He finally send the message just as he reach his personal vehicle, a custom black and white theme motorcycle.

Striding his bike, he turns the ignition and revving up the engine. Hearing his baby purrs, an excited grin crosses his face before it was obscure by his helmet that he now wears. He puts away his phone away his phone in a personal compartment on the bike, he reeves up the again once again before reaping out of the apartment parking lot with a loud roar. He weaves through the park vehicle in the lot before shooting out of the exit, skidding against the pavement before dashing down the road. As he drives towards his destination, the only thing in his mind is the plan for today and the message he just sent.

' _ **I'm so sorry! Woke up late just now and I'm currently on my way. Wait for a little bit more, okay? – Ryou'**_

* * *

 **Done and done.**

 **Hope you like it, for those who read it till the end that is. HT got a solid foundation for the story so far and with my schedule free for the next month or so, we could probably pump out a few more chappie before I go under again. But it's up to him on what's next.**

 **Again, Thank you for reading this and hope you have a wonderful day!**

 **FN & HT **


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